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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday successfully conducted first test flight of the Gaganyaan mission from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota after it was aborted at 8:45am due to a problem in the engine ignition.
The brief test flight sequence launched the crew escape system and crew module at an altitude of 17 km followed by a safe touchdown in the sea, about 10 km from Sriharikota in Bay of Bengal.
“Mission Gaganyaan TV D1 Test Flight is accomplished. Crew Escape System performed as intended. Mission Gaganyaan gets off on a successful note”, posts space agency on X.
The three main parachutes of Gaganyaan TV-D1 were deployed minutes after the successful test vehicle launch.
“I am very happy to announce the successful accomplishment of the TV-D1 Mission. The purpose of this mission was to demonstrate the crew escape system for the Gaganyaan programme,” ISRO chief S Somanath said soon after the splash.
He also explained the reason for aborting the mission on the scheduled time. “After going through the nominal lift-off process, there was a hold issued by the ground computer, which is called the automatic launch sequence computer, that detected a non-conformance for allowing the engine to continue the thrusting to go further. This happened due to a monitoring anomaly in the system, which is why we could identify it very fast and correct it.”
Earlier today, ISRO briefly aborted the launch of uncrewed flight test with a single-stage liquid propulsion rocket, equipped with a Crew Module and Crew Escape, due to a brief glitch. The space agency then said that the errors have been identified and corrected and the second launch was scheduled for 10:00 Hrs today. It was earlier scheduled to lift off at 8am. Then it was rescheduled to 8:30am and 8:45am before it was rescheduled at 10am.
The flight test, being designated as the Test Vehicle Development Flight Mission-1 (TV-D1 Flight Test) was conducted to demonstrate the performance and safety of the crew module and crew escape system as part of the Gaganyaan mission. It also tested the safe landing in the Bay of Bengal after the rocket launch.
The vehicle is 34.9 metres tall and has a lift-off weight of 44 tonnes. The structure of the TV-D1 flight is a single-walled unpressurised aluminium structure with a simulated thermal protection system.
The mission objectives of the TV-D1 launch are flight demonstration and evaluation of Test Vehicle subsystems; flight demonstration and evaluation of Crew Escape System including various separation systems; crew module characteristics; and deceleration system demonstration at higher altitudes and its recovery.
The highly anticipated Gaganyaan mission aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit at an altitude of 400 km for a three-day mission, with a safe return to Earth scheduled for 2025, thus making India the fourth nation to launch a manned spaceflight mission after the US, Russia, and China.
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